John 1:1-18
Please remain standing and turn
in your copy of God’s word to the book of John. Our reading
from the gospel of John is verses one through 18 of chapter one. We continue today in our series
of the word made flesh, and we want particularly to look at
verses nine through 13. But to be reminded of this great
passage, we’ll read verses 1 through 18. Hear the word of the living
God. In the beginning was the word
and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things were made through
him and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was
life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a
man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness,
to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through
him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the
light. The true light, which enlightens
everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and
the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But
to all who did receive him who believed in his name, he gave
the right to become children of God, who were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God. And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only
Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness
about Him and cried out, This was He of whom I said, He who
comes after me ranks before me. because he was before me. And
from his fullness, we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through
Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever
seen God, the only God, who is at the Father’s side. He has
made him known. Pray with me. Father, we pray
that your word now would do its work in each of our lives. May your word this day convince
and convert sinners and may it comfort and build up your saints
into a most holy life. May it be pleasing in your sight
the results of your word as it does its work this day. In Christ’s
name we pray, amen. You may be seated. One of the great joys of being
a parent, I think, is getting to read books, books which were
not read to you or books that you did not read or I did not
read as a child growing up or in my formative years through
maybe high school and college, there are a number of amazing
books on the market for kids. And I’m thinking in particular
books that help form your children’s knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ,
knowledge of the world and everything in it, the reason for creation,
fall, redemption, Christian world life view and all the rest. One
of the great joys of bringing up kids when ours were little
was the fact that R.C. Sproul was writing children’s
books. Many of you are familiar with his books for adults, The
Holiness of God and other works that have influenced your life.
But as our kids were coming along, about every year or so, Dr. Sproul would produce another
children’s book, which we grabbed up and read as a family, read
them to our children. One of my favorites, which came
along maybe about 15 years ago, was a little book called The
Lightlings. And in the book of The Lightlings,
one of Dr. Sproul’s grandchildren came to
him, as the story goes, and asked his grandpa, why am I afraid
of the dark? And what his grandfather told
him is, not only are we afraid of the dark, we’re also afraid
of the light. And so he proceeded to tell the
story of God’s work of creation through a little children’s tale
called the Lightlings. And in this story, the Lightlings
were created by God. They were his delight, his children.
He put them into a garden where they might live in the light
of his presence. And in the light of the presence
of the king, they could see what was good, right, and true, and
what was a blessing for them. But then the story changes and
you begin to see the parallel between the story of God’s children,
Adam and even Genesis. The story changes when something
awful happened in the garden and the lightlings decided to
do as they pleased. and not as God would have them
do. And so as the story goes, the
lightlings were cast out of the light garden and into the darkness. And as they moved into the darkness
of this world, away from God, away from the king of light,
The world got darker and darker and darker. And the people, the
Lightlings, lived in the darkness of the evil deeds of this world.
But there was always a glimmer of light around. And the story
goes, as he tells it, that the children called the Lightlings
began to Look towards the light. They began to travel towards
the light. And as they got closer and closer, they came upon a
baby in a manger. And the baby in the manger, they
were told, was the son of the king of light. And that when
this baby grew older, he would be the light of the world. And
so you see in this story that Dr. Sproul tells to his grandchildren,
and we’re recounting today, it’s exactly, isn’t it, the story
of creation, fall, and redemption. God has made us to live in his
presence. God has made us to live for him
and according to his laws and his ways. But we love darkness
more than we love light. And now Jesus has come into the
world to be the light. And we pick up in our study of
John’s gospel today in verse nine, which says, the true light,
which gives light to everyone was coming into the world. Jesus,
the son of the king of light was coming into the world to
bring light to everyone. And then verse 10 tells us, he
was in the world. and the world was made through
him. But there are a couple of sad
statements that come right after these in verses 10 and 11. The
world did not know him. And then it says he came to his
own and his own people did not receive him. I think of the story
of creation, fall and redemption in the Bible, how God made the
world and everything in it. And before long, Satan came He
tempted Adam and Eve to sin. Cain killed his brother Abel.
And then from there, things get so bad. Just a few chapters into
the Bible, what does God say? I regret that I have made this
world. The intentions of the hearts
of people are only evil all the time. And so I will destroy the
earth with a flood. And then we read that Noah found
favor in the sight of God and God spared Noah’s family through
Abraham or through Noah’s faith. He built an ark. And in that
ark, he was saved through the flood of the world. But God has
always been in the world. His son has been in the world
and the world does not know him. We understand this to mean humanity
alienated from God. People who don’t know God, they
don’t know his word, his ways. They are not in relationship
with God. The world does not know him. And so we look at culture,
we read our headlines, we look at the protests, the social ills of the day. And how
do we interpret these things? Well, we live in a world filled
with a majority of people who do not recognize the light. They
do not know him. They are alienated from him and
they live in darkness. And as the book of Romans tells
us in the first chapter, they love darkness. and they are good
at making the world darker and darker and darker. That’s why
at the time of our pastoral prayer, every Sunday in our worship service,
I say something like this. Let’s pause and pray together,
joining our hearts and minds as we ask God to help us and
bless us. as we live in a dark and dying
world and in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation. We want
to pray for the organ recital, right? We want to pray for hearts
and knees and hips and broken bones. We want to pray for our
health. We want to pray for folks to
get jobs. We want to pray for the needs of the congregation.
But most of all, we want to pray For us, for God’s church, for
his church universal in this nation and world, because where
do we live? We don’t live in heaven. We live
on earth as strangers, pilgrims and sojourners. And when we walk
out these doors with God’s blessing, God’s benediction, it’s a wacky
world out there, isn’t it? It’s a crazy world. It’s a dark
and dying world and a crooked and depraved generation. And
so, yes, we want to pray for hearts and fingers and toes and
all those things. And Aunt Susie’s Uncle’s cousin,
two friends, you know, the church prayer list. We want to pray
for those things, they’re important to God. But most of all, big picture,
we want God’s church, God’s people, God’s children to flourish and
to live well in this world against all the odds and by God’s grace. So this is a dark and dying world. We live amidst humanity alienated
from God who are not in a relationship. But the second little statement
ought to trouble us. We’re okay with the world hating
God. We get that. We understand the world doesn’t
love God. They don’t care for him. They’re trying to stamp
God’s truth out. But this next statement ought to trouble us. Verse 11 says of Jesus, he came
to his own and his own people did not love him. receive him. We’ve seen this in our study
of Luke’s gospel over the last little while, haven’t we? Jesus
was born. He was a little boy in the temple. We catch glimmers and glimpses
of his life, but we’ve studied a good bit of his public ministry.
And even in his own hometown of Nazareth, they tried to run
him out of town and off a cliff and into the sea to his death.
We know ultimately Jesus gets taken to the cross. He was put
to death by his own people. But isn’t it interesting, this
statement, he came to his own, he came to Israel, he came to
his fellow countrymen, he came to the chosen people of Almighty
God, who should have been ready, they had the law, they had Moses,
they had the prophets, they had the temple, they had the sacrifices,
they had Sunday school, they had it all. And it says his own people did
not receive him. They did not welcome him. They
did not show him hospitality. They rejected him due to their
sin and their unwillingness to receive him as Lord and Savior. And so it’s a dark world Jesus
enters. And it’s a dark world amongst
his own people that he comes to. We read of all the prophecies,
the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. But
we know Jesus was rejected, rejected greatly among his own people. What are we to think of Christianity
in 2020? Might as well say 2021 now. We’re
just a few weeks away. What are we to think about Jesus’
presence in this world, this dark and dying world, this crooked
and depraved generation? Well, a couple of things come
to mind. And think about this light and darkness as it’s been
contrasted for us in John’s first gospel here, John’s first gospel
chapter one. The light has come into the world.
Darkness has rejected the light. But guess what? We remember darkness
cannot overcome it. And so if we tend to be people,
half glass or glass, half empty people, and that it. Glass half
full people. Glass half empty people. Oh,
this is a terrible world, a terrible culture. It’s all gone to pot.
What’s there to be done? We wring our hands. That ought
not to be our attitude. Our attitude ought to be glass
full. Jesus reigns. Jesus rules. Jesus has conquered sin and death
and darkness. And this world will last for
a little while. But the king of light has come
to make all things new. And we see little deposits of
this, don’t we? I get letters and notes from
you in the congregation. I see things pastorally. that God is doing in your lives. And we may not be big, we may
not be mega, we may not be meeting American standards for evangelical
Christianity. But I want to tell you this,
not only is God on the throne, Not only is God sovereign and
ruling and reigning in all of our lives, but God is at work
in our lives and in our congregation. You can see in little bitty ways
that will have everlasting effects. God is on the move. Outside these
walls may be dark. The world may reject the light.
God’s own people may reject light, but there is great hope. in those
who receive Jesus and who welcome into their lives. And notice
the turning point of this passage in verse 12. But to all who did
receive him, to all who believed in his name, to those he gave
the right to become children of almighty God. As you walk
out of these doors and you think this world is going to pot, this
world is dark, it’s dying, it’s a crooked and depraved generation,
what can be done? Can Jesus even fix this? We must
remember that shortly after God made the world and everything
in it, sin fell upon this earth, you know, Adam and Eve, firstborn
son killed their secondborn son, all that death and darkness.
We need to remember that Adam and Eve had another child named
Seth. And what does the book of Genesis tell us shortly after
Seth’s life? It says, people began to call
on the name of the Lord. And then we read of Noah. Noah,
with all unrighteousness around him, was a faithful man of God
and his family worshiped God and served him. And then we read
of Abraham being called out of Ur of the Chaldeans, being called
out of paganism to serve the living God. He moved from paganism
to the promised land and he worshiped and lived for God. And we see
throughout the history of God’s people and we see it in our own
lives. We see it in the lives of other
Christians. We know there are some who don’t reject the light. There are some who receive Jesus
and live for him. And notice what verse 12 tells
us. It’s very encouraging. To all
who did receive Jesus, to all who did believe in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God. There’s a statement that
John makes in one of his three little letters, first, second,
third John, And it’s one of those statements that’s supposed to
be read with great joy. And it says this, see, God has
made us his children. We are the children of God. It’s
almost like Eureka, how wonderful. This is a great thing. We ought
to stand amazed that we who are rebellious, we who hated God,
We who took our inheritance and squandered it like the prodigal
son have been welcomed home. The ring has been put on our
finger, the robe has been placed on us, sandals on our feet, the
fattened calf has been killed and cooked. There has been a
feast and a party for our coming home. All who did receive Jesus,
all who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children
of God. And notice what it says about
our salvation. being born again. But it’s not being born of blood
or the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. It’s being
born of Almighty God. This reminds us, doesn’t it,
of the story of Nicodemus. Remember Nicodemus, who was one
of the great teachers of Israel. He came to Jesus by night. He
came secretly. He didn’t want the rest of the
scribes and the Sanhedrin, the teachers of all, to see that
he was hobnobbing with Jesus. And he came to him and said,
what must I do to be born again? What must I do to be saved? And
he couldn’t get his mind wrapped around being born again. He said,
must I reenter my mother’s womb and be born a second time as
a human being? And Jesus says, no. And our passage
echoes this. We’re not born of blood. This
isn’t through normal biological processes that we’re born again.
It’s not through the will of the flesh or the desires of a
man and woman. It’s not through the will of
man saying, I think it’s time to have a child. This is strictly
by the power of almighty God. It says to all who did receive
him or to all who believed in his name, he gave the right.
He gave the permission. He gave the authority for them
to be born again from above of God, not the will of man. Doesn’t this passage remind us
from start to finish of God’s great grace? He made the world
and everything in it. He gave his light. He’s been patient and merciful
with sin and he still sent his own son into this dark world
to be the light and to make salvation possible for his children. And
it speaks of his work of redemption in the middle of a fallen creation. Think of yourself for a moment.
You’re not of the offspring of Abraham. I don’t think there’s
a one of us in this room who is of Jewish descent, who’s from
the nation of Israel. We are Gentiles. We’ve been brought
in, we’ve been crafted in, but every single one of us born in
sin, born to a life of unrighteousness. born to die, born to bear the
wrath and curse of almighty God for our sin. And God in his grace
and mercy sent his true light into the world, the world which
he made, the world which has rejected him. And he has come
to his own who would not receive him. And so the question for
us to consider this day is, do you recognize The great grace
of God in sending his own son into this world to save a sinner
such as yourself. And then another question, what’s
your response? Do you receive Jesus as the Son
of God, the Savior of sinners? Do you believe that you’re a
sinner under the wrath and curse of Almighty God? And do you believe
that you need to put your faith and hope and trust in a Savior,
in the light of the world, even Jesus Christ, in order to escape
God’s curse upon you for your sin? Do not be one who rejects
the light. The little story we told just
a few moments ago, oh, grandpa, why am I afraid of the dark?
The real question is, why are you afraid of the light? And,
you know, the answer to that question is simple. Light exposes. You know, we go into the laundry
room at night, you know, to search for something. We don’t go in
the darkness in hopes that we’ll find it. We say, honey, turn
on the light or where’s the flashlight? We get on our hands and knees
to look for something in the, in the, the warp and the wolf
of the carpet. We don’t go in there in the dark.
We turn on the lights. We, we shine. We want the light
to expose what is missing or what is hiding. And remember
the story of Adam and Eve, the story of the lightlings, what
did they do when they knew they were in sin? They ran, they fled,
they hid from God and his light coming into our lives. It exposes
us, it shines on our sins, our failures, our faults. But that’s
not all it does. It gives us hope, doesn’t it?
The light of the world came to save us who were in darkness
and rescue us from that kingdom of darkness and bring us into
the marvelous kingdom of light. There’s another passage in John’s
writings. It’s in 1 John 3, verse 2. And he says this, beloved, we
are the children of God. We are not yet what we shall
be. But when God himself is manifest, we shall be like him. And we
shall see him as he is. And so as you think today on
your belief in Jesus, the light of the world, remember that he
is not yet done with you. You may see things in your life.
You may feel guilt because of some patterns of sin in your
life. And you need to remember this. You are not yet what you
shall be. But when Christ appears, we will
not only see him as he is, but we shall become perfectly like
him. The light of the world has come
to make us children of light. But do you believe? Are you rejecting
him? Or by God’s grace, have you received
him and believed in his name and begin the right of almighty
God to become his child? Pray with me. Lord, we hear so many voices.
We hear so many options in life. We hear so many ways to happiness.
even many ways to salvation. And we pray now that your voice,
your clear voice, would remind us of the true light of the world,
the true light which gives light, the true light who made everything
we see, and the true light who can make us new again. Lord,
may we hear his voice. and believe in him and receive
him and rest in him alone for our salvation so that when he
is manifest, we shall be like him and we shall see him as he
is. We ask your grace in Jesus name.
Amen.